Multiple Exposure

A thrilling blend of art history and international intrigue

BookPage review by Lizzie Davis

With an already established list of mysteries set in the Virginia wine country, Ellen Crosby tries her hand at the enigmatic world of international espionage with Multiple Exposure, the first installment in a brand new mystery series featuring the bold and inquisitive photojournalist Sophie Medina. Crosby—who has been a freelance reporter for the Washington Post, a Moscow correspondent for ABC Radio News and an economist for the U.S. Senate—seamlessly blends fact with fiction to establish a fast-paced mystery that is as creative as it is well researched.

In this vibrantly intriguing novel set in the heart of Washington, D.C., Sophie pulls out all the stops to find her husband, who is a covert CIA agent and has gone missing. Who would have taken him? Could he have possibly staged his own kidnapping? Why can’t he come home? Amid illicit oil deals, a burgeoning political scandal and Russian thugs, Sophie’s questions continue to build, and it only gets worse when she takes a job photographing two never-before-seen Fabergé eggs of Imperial Russia, now on display at the National Gallery of Art. This quick-witted heroine holds her own against rough-edged Russian thugs and self-serving political giants who have no sympathy for those who get in the way.

Readers looking for a lively, alluring mystery teeming with intellectual takeaways that become instant conversation starters will enjoy Multiple Exposure, as well as its spirited female lead, elements of Russian art history and international conspiracy.